"You gotta get as good as you give"

Since 1997, Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher have been among the most successful sailors alive - their accomplishments in the Tornado class include two Olympic gold medals, three European Championship titles and a World Championship victory. And since 1997 the two Austrians, wherever they appear, have been one of the most popular two-man teams in competitive sailing; both have a reputation for fairness, modesty and willingness to help. In an interview, Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher appear separately, for a change, to talk about each other’s strengths and weaknesses, secrets and crazy moments. Part one of this double-interview features Roman Hagara: he tells us why he sometimes has to run for cover, talks about Hans-Peter’s qualities as a party animal, and what he values most about "Steini" the athlete and the person.

The World Sailing Games 2006 have been your first home World Championship - did that make you more nervous than usual?
No, nervousness has never been our problem, and by now we’ve been at it too long for it to become one.

How do you keep yourselves motivated during an event?
That’s always been Hans-Peter’s role. He’s the driving force on board; he always sets up the necessary tension. And it’s easy for me to pick up on that and put it to good use.

As you’ve already mentioned, you’ve been a team for quite a long time now, and you’ve known each other for 17 years. If you had to ascribe three qualities to Hans-Peter, what would those be?
Amiable, nice and athletic. He just always knows what’s essential. And another thing: Hans-Peter is absolutely straightforward and reliable - and that’s something I value and find important in friends as well as in colleagues.

And what are his strengths on the water?
He has an excellent ability to keep his eye on everything, when it comes to sizing up other boats. And in terms of tactics, he’s learned a lot as the years have gone by. He used to be more of an “all-or-nothing” guy, but that’s changed.

How does Hans-Peter deal with successes and failures?
When he loses, he gets very quiet and really lets the situation get to him. When he wins it’s the exact opposite: he lets his emotions run free - something we saw at the second Olympic gold medal in Athens. That was also our greatest success up to now.

What is the craziest thing Hans-Peter has ever done after you’ve had a successful race?
Luckily, he’s not really crazy. But after our first Olympic gold medal in Sydney, he partied pretty seriously. Let’s put it this way: so far, nobody’s had to baby-sit him.

That means …?
… that the details will remain our secret.

How is it with you guys on board? Do you always have everything under control?
Something unexpected always happens. For example in Sydney, when Hans-Peter’s elbow suddenly landed right in my face. The resulting mix of blood and seawater is pretty wild … but that’s the way it is: when you’re on a boat with Steini you gotta get as good as you give!

How did you make the decision to become a team?
That happened when I was skiing in Zell am See (Stainacher’s hometown - ed.), and visited Hans-Peter. We knew each other from before, we were joking around as always, and I just asked him. I didn’t actually mean it seriously … but then it got serious.

Why not seriously?
Because I knew that he intended to take over his father’s company. And when his father learned about our decision, he was very skeptical. When we went to our first regatta together, he asked us: “Do you actually know exactly what you’re going to do there?” But today he’s become our biggest fan.

How long do you plan on continuing your career together?
After the 2008 Olympic Games we’re definitely going to call it quits with Tornados. After all, I’ve been in that class since 1985. We’ll see how things continue afterwards. But as for me, I think I hear the big boat scene calling!